Nicholas Joseph Paithouski ( – September 15, 1985) was an award-winning and all-star

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in the

Ontario Rugby Football Union The Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) was an early amateur Canadian football league comprising teams in the Canadian province of Ontario. The ORFU was founded on Saturday, January 6, 1883 and in 1903 became the first major competition to adopt th ...

. A graduate of Queen's University, he was a star player with the

Golden Gaels The Queen's Gaels (also known as the Queen's Golden Gaels) is the Athletics program representing Queen's University at Kingston in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Team colours are blue, red, and gold. The main athletics facilities include Richardson Me ...

, twice selected as a team MVP. In 1940 he joined the Sarnia 2/26 Battery team of the ORFU and it was a successful season: he was an all-star, and he won the Imperial Oil Trophy as MVP in the ORFU. He joined the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

for the 1941 season. Paithouski joined the

Royal Canadian Engineers The Canadian Military Engineers (CME; french: links=no, Génie militaire canadien) is the military engineering personnel branch of the Canadian Armed Forces. The members of the branch that wear army uniform comprise the Corps of Royal Canadian Engi ...

and served during World War II, receiving a

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

from the American Army. He also had the good fortune to play in the famed ''Tea Bowl'' for the Canadian Army football team against American Army team at White City Stadium on February 13, 1944 in London, England (the Canadians won 16–6). After the war he played with the

Hamilton Tigers The Hamilton Tigers were a professional ice hockey team based in Hamilton, Ontario. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1920 to 1925. The Tigers were formed by the sale of the Quebec Bulldogs NHL franchise to Hamilton intere ...

for 3 seasons. He later worked as a civil engineer for the Federal government, living in Ottawa with his wife Barbara (1917-1976) and their two children, Janet and Joe. He was inducted into the Sarnia Lambton Sports Hall of Fame in 1984 and the Queen's University Football Hall of Fame in 1987. He died September 15, 1985 at the age of 67.Donor Stories : The Paithouski Prize
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References

1910s births 1985 deaths Sportspeople from Sarnia Players of Canadian football from Ontario Queen's Golden Gaels football players Queen's University at Kingston alumni Ontario Rugby Football Union players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Hamilton Tigers football players Canadian military personnel of World War II {{Canadianfootball-bio-stub